Fiona was a very well-known girl at school. She was smart and kind, and her relationship with everyone was going well. Therefore, it was no coincidence that Fiona had great popularity. From an early age, she made an effort to be kind and friendly to others. Once, she invited the entire class to her birthday party, and from time to time, Fiona would give gifts to everyone.
Fiona had many friends and was busy with them, to the point that she didn’t have a chance to spend some time with her other friends. Fiona felt that she was extremely lucky. There was no other girl who had as many friends at school and in the neighborhood as she did. But everything changed on National Friendship Day. On that day, everyone at school was having a fun time drawing and giving gifts.
Everyone was required to give three gifts to their three close friends that day. Fiona enjoyed the task of choosing three from among all her friends that day. When she finished presenting all the gifts and sharing them among her classmates, Fiona was the only one who didn’t receive a gift! She felt sad and spent hours crying.
How could this happen? She had put in so much effort to have many friends, and in the end, no one saw her as their best friend on this day? Everyone came and tried to comfort Fiona for a while, but each one stayed only for a short time before leaving. This was exactly what Fiona had done many times to others.
She realized that day that she was a good companion with many acquaintances, but she was not a true friend to anyone. She tried not to argue with anyone, even though she tried to pay attention to everyone, but she had now discovered that this was not enough to create a true friendship. When she returned home that night, she kept crying. Fiona asked her mother, where can she find true friends?
Her mother answered, “You cannot buy friends with a smile or a few good words. If you truly want true friends, you will have to give them real time and good affection. For a true friend, you must always be available in good times and bad times.” Fiona said to her mother, “But I want to be a friend to everyone. I need to share my time among everyone.”
Her mother said, “My dear, you are a beautiful girl, but you cannot be a close friend to everyone. There is not enough time for you to be available to everyone. So it is possible to have a few true friends, while others will be your companions or acquaintances, but they will not be close friends.” When Fiona heard this, she decided to change her way of thinking, so that she could finally get some true friends.
That night, before going to sleep, Fiona thought about what she could do to get friends. She thought about her mother, who was always ready to help her, who dealt with everything that troubled Fiona, who always forgave her mistakes, and who loved her very much. Here, Fiona realized that this is what creates friendship. Fiona smiled broadly, realizing that she already had the best friend anyone could want in life.
The story is translated from: Fiona Famous